Sea Base 2004

Sea Base Florida 2004

A Scouts Tale

This here be the tale of scout camp beyond your wildest dreams. Our tale begins when a scout contingent come to the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport at 4:30 AM. This is how the story goes. My scout crew was just about to get on the plane to go to Miami, FL. Once we arrived into Miami, we took a 2-hour bus ride to Sea Base.

Once at Sea Base we got introduced to our dive master Scott from Detroit, MI. We then unloaded. At this point it was almost time to have dinner. So we went and ate outside under the jacki. It was beautiful. We then found the volleyball court and started playing into the late hours. Then we went inside and played cards. At about 11:00 pm we all headed for bed, and fell asleep.

The next morning we got up, and headed for the morning flag raising. Chris Schumacher was bouncing off the walls because he was so wide-awake, without any caffeine. After the flag rising, we recited the Keys Blessing.

“Bless the creatures of the sea

Bless this person I call me,

Bless the Keys you made so grand

Bless the sun that warms the land,

Bless the fellowship we feel

As we gather for this meal,

Amen.”

We then headed off for some breakfast. Once that was completed we headed over to pool to be tested on our diving skills. Once completed we had time off until our night dive. In that time we played games, played volleyball, and a 3-hour long game of Texas Holdem. But the afternoon dive was awesome. It was at Alligator reef, and the type of reef was a ledge reef. Basically it was just one long strip of raised rock with coral on it. It was a fantastic adventure. We saw huge groups of giant Barracudas. Then we surfaced and headed back.

That night we again played cards, and volleyball. And like the night before we went to sleep at about 11:00 pm. In the morning we had to get up early to make the drive to our chartered dives at Molasses Reef. We saw all sorts of things, like 6-foot eels, nurse sharks, trumpet fish, and other really rare fish.

Most of our dives were mostly the same after that. In fact most of the days were the same. It would be wake up, go to the chapel, go to flag raising, go to breakfast, go to our morning dive, have a break, go out on our next dive, have lunch, go back on shore, have a break, go to flag lowering, have dinner, play volleyball or play cards (sometimes I would play cribbage), go out and get pictures of the sunset, and then go to bed. That would be my typical day in Sea Base.

On our dives we have seen many interesting things. Even when we went snorkeling out on the wreck I saw tons of cool things. The best thing I saw was a three-foot stingray. It was covered in sand and only the eyes and tail were visible. Un fortunately I didn’t have my camera, but others did see it. Some people on other dives even saw a Spotted Eagle Ray. There was tons of fish just swimming around right inside the boat. And we would dive right into the middle of them.

We’ll on Saturday we went to Key West, and to the Southern most point. I wasn’t able to go to the southern most point, but I was able to go into just about every T-shirt shop down Duval St. Like every other store’s main thing is T-shirts. While we were browsing we went into this shop that made custom candles. The worker gave us a little tour, and showed us how some changed color in the light. They were truly works of art. They had every design from igloo’s to tropical scenes. They were really cool to look at.

Later we met as a group in front of the Burger King. We then decided where to eat. Some went to “Eat it Raw Half Shell Raw Bar”. That’s where most of the adults went with some kids. Others didn’t really eat a dinner, and others went to various places. I decided to have a Cheeseburger with fries at a raw bar. After we ate we went to the Sun Set Festival. It was amazing. There were street performers. People were doing Houdini act’s, statue figures, I even saw a lizard in a T-shirt. Really I think Key West’s biggest income is T-shirts. Some of the best acts I think are the black Houdini, and the sword-swallowing guy. Those were some good acts, and they have to be because that’s how they make their living.

The next day we had our night dive, and boy was it cool. We saw all sorts of things. Some of the best were the giant sea turtle, the squid, the jellyfish, and the baby moray eel. It was hard to see down there, even with our lights. It was hard to tell who your buddy was so everyone went in big packs around. Then when we got up to the surface, I looked around. What I saw was breathe taking. There were thunderstorms all around, and the light pollution made the sky look sort of purple. It was truly beautiful.

On our last dive, which happened to be our last full day at Sea Base we went for our deep dive. We only went 50 ft, but it was still really cool. Our dive master Scott, had our crew go down to the bottom, and kneel there. Once all of us were down there, he presented us with our Sea Base patches. At the bottom of the ocean. What better ending. Then we went off on our dive. My dad and me went together, navigating the whole way. It was just a blast. Just a cool way to end our diving adventures at Sea Base.

When it was time for flag lowering, some people knew of something special that would be happening. David Pashina an 18-year-old scout, who had just made his Eagle Scout that summer, was about to get a small Court of Honor at Sea Base. After the flag lowering was complete, Ed (one of our crews adult leaders) asked all the Eagle Scouts, Silver Award recipients for Venturing, and gold recipients for Girl Scouts to please come forward. Then Ed said some words from an actual Eagle Court of Honor. Then David said a bunch of stuff like the Eagle Promise, and a variety of other stuff. Once David finished his bit, Katie (A gold recipient for girls scouts from another crew) pinned on a staff members Eagle medal, and was presented with his Eagle Scout knot. Then it was over.

That night we had a Lau. We at a seafood dinner, with key lime pie for dessert. Then each group did a skit, or sang a song or something like that. Then the counselors had little awards for things like the biggest most edible fish award. Then it went to the Conch Ceremony, where we reviewed over the week. Then we went and played volleyball, or cards. Then some kids stayed up till 1:00 am or later. It was just a crazy night for everyone. Then we went to sleep, dreading what had to be done the next day.

In the morning we arose, and I went to chapel like I did everyday since Saturday, then off to our last flag raising in which I played the bugle. Once that was done it was time to eat. After we were done eating, there was about an hour until we had to leave. Some people, myself included, played a quick game of volleyball with some of the other crews. Others, who hadn’t packed the night before, went to go pack. Then the saddest point of all was when it was time to go. Everybody said their good-byes, and then we took a couple of group pictures. I went around and got some individual pictures. Then we packed up and headed out. And that was our last time at Sea Base… for now anyway.

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